In 10.28 covers the complete bioprocess design methodology: from vector selection to the production, separation and characterization of the recombinant product. Students work in teams through two parallel modules spanning microbial fermentation and animal cell culture. With the bioreactor at the core of the experiments, students study cell metabolism and biological pathways, kinetics of cell growth and product formation, oxygen mass transport, scale-up and techniques for the design of process control loops. Novel bioreactors as well as powerful analytical instrumentation will be introduced. Downstream processing and recombinant product purification will also be included.

In the lab portion of the fall term, 10.28 is organized in two parts. The first part, which represents 2/3 of the entire course, provides the material and training described in the above section. In the second part, the students work as a team on an Independent Project, which occupies the last 1/3 of the course.

For course 10.28L, the lab portion of the course is done during IAP, and the independent project is computation-based during the spring term.

A selection of the independent projects carried out recently are shown below:

Designing a virtual bioreactor

Nanoparticles for enhancing O2 mass transfer

Production of anti-cancer products with Streptomyces sp.

Large-scale repeated batch of cancer cells in the stirred-tank bioreactor

Comparing batch and perfusion culture of CHO cells

Mixing study in the Wave reactor using novel sensors and imaging technique

Genetically-driven cell lysis and novel instrumentation

Computational fluid dynamics of bioreactor

Production of recombinant collagen in the bioreactor

Optimization of heat-shock protein in the stirred-tank reactor

Lectures present the theory underlying the experiments. Problem sets tied to the laboratory experiments are assigned regularly to help students assimilate the new concepts introduced in the laboratory.

As part of the Institute Communication Requirement, workshops on communication are scheduled and closely integrated with the technical part of the course. Oral and written presentations are included as a means of enhancing communication skills and receiving constructive criticism in developing new ideas.